Today, Paradox Interactive introduced the world to their newest title: Starvoid. While an RTS at heart, it’s already promising a new element for the genre: the introduction of drop in/drop out gameplay. While this might look to be a nice feature to begin with, will it really be a good addition to the RTS genre?

During Twitch.TV’s live stream of Starvoid, we got to see Paradox’s newest title in all of its gameplay glory. With the introduction of the three main characters, three maps, contracts, and a single game mode, the hero characters already seem to be rather basic. There are also rumors of a fourth character in the works, but those interested are going to have to wait for further details. Yet the three characters Twitch.TV did show us were diverse; all of whom have different abilities.

The first character is a male solider who starts off the game with a big hammer; almost like a gravity hammer from the Halo series. The second character is a female scout who, while equipped for long range engagements, also possesses a strong sniper rifle and the ability to use long range artillery fire. The final hero was another female: a stealthy character that comes equipped with a sword and can sneak by anyone with the ability to become invisible. This leaves a lot of people wondering what the final character is going to be. We can only hope they will reveal the character in the closed beta, which is soon to come.

The three playable maps that we did see were primarily for teams of 6 vs 6. As for the appearance of the maps, they didn’t seem to offer too much variety. Two of those shown were desert, both of which looked very similar. The only real difference in the landscape was that debris was moved from one location to another, and the control points were also placed in different locations. Hopefully Paradox will improve the appearance and the layout of these maps so players can enjoy more memorable and challenging gameplay. From what we have heard so far, all of the the maps are going to be larger than average, which makes for an ideal 6 vs 6 team setup. Starvoid will also have a few maps formatted for 4 vs 4, which really means players are going to have 5 nodes to control instead of 6.

In Starvoid we were shown only one of the game modes: battle. In this mode you have a set time to control nodes, which are placed around the map. The more nodes your team has, the more points you are going to receive as the game continues. Players are also going to have bonus nodes which are going to give your team bonus damage, defense, energy, mana, or HP.

The objective of the game is rather simple: control the nodes longer then the enemy to win. The other game modes are: team, deathmatch, and sabotage. There isn’t much information on these modes yet, but we might get a glimpse with the closed beta. As for contracts, they aren’t what most people might think. Contracts are the units that players can acquire to help them during the battle. As you level up, you are going to be able to upgrade your contracts with side weapons and abilities.

With games needing 12 players for optimal gameplay, are gamers going to be ready to have so many teammates? Games now have you pair up with one or maybe three other players. But when we make games that have six players per team, it really makes each member that much more important to their group.

With all of this going on in Starvoid, players are going to be able to become very competitive: both with their team and against the enemy. With the addition of the drop in and out system in Paradox’s new RTS, it will make players happy to know that even if your teammate disconnects, they will be able to get a new player in (or have the disconnected return) in a matter of moments. So let’s hope to see this title in the very near future, because Starvoid is going to be the talk of the town when the closed beta hits.

Victor Chavez

Victor Chavez has been gaming for 20+ years and has loved every minute of it and couldn't ask for anything better in life. He encourages readers to hit him up via Twitter to discuss anything about the gaming industry - he's always willing to hear what others have to say.